I {heart} bags

My biggest addiction is bags. Any kind and any brand. I don't discriminate. Because I loooove bags so much I decided to try to make one myself. I bought the pattern of the style I wanted, because apparently I couldn't understand a single tutorial online. I got the pattern and fabrics and got to work. Well, I think it took me an hour to understand and not comprehend one bit of the pattern instructions...great. I did as best as I could, I think I got to step 2, and gave me up and re-tried the tutorial I found online. They actually made sense to me, unlike seeing them the first time, and I went from there to here:

lining with pocket

small detail

I should really give myself a pat on the back. Not in a million years did I ever think I could accomplish such a thing, seriously. Yes, there are plenty of flaws in this bag but I must say its not bad at all for a first timer.

Now to make another bag in another color and maybe style :)

To Quit Or Not To Quit

Thanks everyone for your advice and comments on my last post. 

So here's more of the work update.

I wake up with worry and stress just thinking about quitting and thinking about my job and maybe that should be a big enough hint to do so and quit. This week hasn't been any better and it doesn't look like its going to get any better. I can't trust anyone and I'm lost and confused.
If I quit I don't want to feel like I'm not contributing to this household. I clean, cook, do laundry, fix things, etc around the house, but I feel like I need to do more. I know you all are saying to yourselves that that IS contributing but I feel like I could do more, money wise.
Do we need the money? No, but its nice to have that extra bit of money.
I have been applying to jobs, TRUST ME!

I spoke briefly to DH about it and he told me to just quit, but he also had to go and we couldn't really get into more detail. So I'm waiting on that to make my final decision.

I'm 99.9% sure that I've made up my mind. I just need DH's 1% to finalize the deal for me.

I need some luck...

HUN: "Table For One"

Go check out my newest article on the HUN about being, and eating, alone during a deployment, 

"Table for One"

Damn zippers

As most of you know I have taken a new hobby, sewing. I have succesfully made two pj bottoms...well, three actually, but the second one was WAY too tight...wedgie tight if you know what i mean. I have also made some sunglass cases to carry around my purse instead of using the chunky ones you get. Now I have finally finished sewing my first make-up bag and its by far the hardest one I've done so far.

First of, my first time dealing with zippers. SOMEONE COULD'VE WARNED ME!!! I broke my first needle during my attempt.

poor needle, you shall be missed.

Then, I used a fusible vinyl on fabric...great right? NO! Ummmm, its such a sticky and yet slippery fabric that it has driven me NUTS!

I spent 3 hours attempting to make this look decent.


The final result:

Need Your Help MilSpouses

I normally don't do this, but I'm kind of desperate....

As most of you know, I write for the HUN (Homefront United Network) along with many other wonderful MilSpouses.

I am currently amidst a project and I need your help. The HUN is looking to create a subpage within the website dedicated to milspouses who make and sell handmade items. In return this will help you sell more of your items and expand us as network.

As of right now we would have to charge for the space, but the price hasn't been set since we are still working things out.

If you are interested please email me,  even if you are not 100% sure.

Please email me at info@homefrontunited.com or you can leave your email and I will contact you.

Thanks for taking your time in reading this...I appreciate it!

Chicken Wire It Is

A special thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions about 

Brownie's digging. YOU ROCK!

So you remember last week's post about Brownie digging? [if not, read here].

Well, I followed almost all the advices people suggested (except for placing her poop where she digs). I first tried the Cayenne Pepper, but for some reason she didn't mind it. Either that or she liked it, who knows with Brownie :)

Yesterday I headed to Home Depot and purchased some chicken wire.

in this one the firepit was covering it

this is were the red crate stood

I want to say her digging is due to the fact that she wants to play with other dogs. When I went to Australia I left her at this dog sitting farm and was constantly surrounded by dogs (I love the place because the owner constantly posted pictures on FB and it comforted me to know she was ok). Also, I think this because she's been digging at our neighbors and ours fence, they have two dogs. I swear, one day I'm going to find her next door...lol

A Blah Week

I need a favor: Can you PLEASE tell me a funny story...PLEASE [insert sad puppy eye here]

This week did it for me. It had started well, but then it all went down hill and so has my mood. I also think my mood has been lingering there for quite a while waiting to surface.

Monday started off great. I went to volunteer and they decided to move me projects to something I've been wanting to do, so "YAY" on that :) Then Tuesday everything just started to go sour. I've been missing DH a lot more lately, it was probably not a good idea that I watch "Battle LA", huh? It sucks been alone.

I've been sewing, which you all have read, so that has been keeping me occupied. I've also been trying to figure out Brownie's digging. By the way, Cayenne Pepper has been vetoed :( so chicken wire it is.

On a good note, DH called me yesterday and we actually spoke for like 30mins (the longest since he's left). It was really good to hear from him and not feel rushed. I ♥ him!

So I ask you lovely bloggies for a favor, I want my week to end on a good note so I need something to laugh at ...PLEASE tell me a funny story, PLEASE!

 I'll give you a virtual hug (------------------------------------------------------------) <--- awesome, I know :)

PJ Bottoms

{if you want to know what I'm talking about, read this post}

So I started and finished my first sewing project in years and let me just say that I was ready to throw the pattern outside the window. I picked out the simplest pattern, PJ bottoms, - it even said on the package "for beginners - and thought to myself, "I can do this". Well, the picking out the pattern wasn't the stressful part, it was finding what I needed. Since everything on that package was in "sewing language" I was a bit completely lost. 

I got my items for the PJ bottoms because I just wanted something simple to get me in the groove of things. I headed home and read, re-read, re-re-read the instructions of the pattern and I was more lost than ever. My friend said the instructions where, "Barney style" but I told her I must be dumb because I couldn't understand them for the life of me. She finally dummy-fied them for me and finally the instructions pictures became more clear to me. 

I took me about 20 mins to cut, sew and realize I had no elastic band for the pants. But 20 minutes isn't bad at all for someone who hasn't sewn in years. 

The following day I purchase and elastic and went on to finish my first pair of PJ bottoms. 

Not bad, eh?

Since I still have some extra fabric, my next project: sunglasses case. 

What is the coolest thing you've sewed? 

Do you have a post about it? Link it. 

If not, tell me what you want to sew.

Wordless Wednesday

Australian War Memorial (Canberra, 2011)

I Miss Him

I miss DH...A LOT! Just saying that made me tear up just a little bit. How sad am I, huh?

Last week I decided to do some organizing. In one of our spare bedrooms DH has it occupied with clothes. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my husband has more clothes than me :) Anywho, that closet was also occupied two containers which were filled with more clothes, so I decided to hang all his nice shirts, suits and jackets. Now its all nice and full and you can see the bottom of the closet :)

On Sunday my dumb-ass genius-self decided to organize the garage...in 110 degree weather...GO ME! Our garage is filled with many, many, many boxes which are ALL filled with DH's crap. I decided to try to condense the mess, because honestly...I envy those houses whose garage's are empty...I do, I do, I really do. Needless to say, I did condense A LOT and no, I didn't dare throw anything out. But I do believe that there was a little rodent there, because there was an empty destroyed Pop Tart wrapper and some open packages of supplements. All I have to say is that rodent must be buff.

Now you must be saying to yourself what does organizing have anything to do with missing you husband. Doing these little things reminded me of DH and in return made me miss DH very much. Don't get me wrong, I miss him everyday. But since I was organizing his things, it made me think of him the entire time and made me miss him more...does that make any sense? Because I do believe I just confused myself. UGH!!! Cannot wait for this deployment to be OVER!

I LOVE YOU

A Little Recap

Since there has been nothing exciting going on in my life I thought I would just do a recap of the week/weekend.

Brownie has decided she would take digging to the next stage and dig around the fence to the point where she's halfway out and I have to grab her before she makes the great escape. I considered heading over to Home Depot and purchasing some bricks, but I know she'd end up finding a way to move those bricks. So I scratched that idea quickly off the list. The next best thing is this:

I'm sure housing didn't provide us the crate for this reason, but at least I'm using it. The shovel next to it is covering another little hole, I had to improvise.

This over here, is the other hole she had dug up and is now A LOT better and guarded by our fancy-smancy fire pit:

And you can't really see it here, but here is a new hole in the making:

Just call me MacGyver :)

I finally purchased a sewing machine. I've been meaning to buy one for ages, but I never got around to it. Nothing fancy, just an 8-stitch and $84! My main priority was that it HAD to be Singer. My mom has one and when I was little in school in Namibia, that's how they taught us to use one.

(image credit: Jenny's Sewing Studio)

This weekend I headed to JoAnn's and picked-out my first pattern, PJ bottoms and some fabric...which is SOOOO cute, its filled with cupcakes :)

I have to admit, I felt very overwhelmed at JoAnn's. I never used a pattern before, mind you its been ages since I've used a sewing machine, so I wasn't sure where to look and so forth. My goal is to eventually sew DH's nametapes on and learn to hem pants (I'm short, so I need to hem all my pants). 

Aside from that I've just been infused by watching my third (3rd) series of the deployment: "HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER" and I can't get enough of it.

I do lead a hard life :)

Military Note Cards: A Review

innovative

brilliant

original

creative

fun

cute

Those are a some of the words I use to describe Semper Wifey's collection of note cards. How much more military can these cards get? You have plastic-green military men and a fun saying military-esque saying to go with it. PERFECT!

Since these cards come blank on the inside, you can use these for cards for ANYTHING! From telling your friends that you are moving to saying thank you for a wonderful party to whatever your itty-bitty heart desires.

Want to know where you can get these lovely cards? 

At Semper Wifey Shop at SemperWifey75 on one of the best sites ever: ETSY.

How much and how many?

- A set of eight (8) note cards is $12

- Individual cards are $2.50ea
They come in three different graphics/styles (see Etsy shop for more details!)

AND if you hurry now you will get 15% off your purchase plus FREE shipping by entering the code SEMPER15 (coupon expires Friday, July 15th). AWESOME!

A special thank you to Semper Wifey for letting me do this review.

I LOVE markets

In the suburb where I lived in Madrid every Tuesday and Saturday mornings they have this huge market where they sell clothes, food, fake Gucci's, shoes and anything and everything you can think of. Time progressed and the market got bigger. Its so big, and famous to a point, that people come from all over Madrid to that market.
Everytime there is a market wherever I am I have to go. I may not buy anything or I may not go with a purpose, but I love going to markets.

In Sydney they have The Rocks Market. Its small and quaint and filled with a lot of cute and unique items. The majority are fashion oriented, handmade mostly, with a little bit of Australian art in the middle.

I found the cutest stall, Pretty in Pink. This woman used vintage-retro fabrics and turned them into cosmetics bags, shower caps, pjs, aprons, etc. I couldn't decide which to purchase because I wanted them ALL. I finally decided to purchase a cosmectic case small and big enough to carry my contact solution and case:

inside linning

Happy 4th of July

!!!HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!

(image credit: Child Development Institute)

Australia - Canberra (part 2)

The last week in Australia I didn't do much expect for more sightseeing and just being lazy. Gotta tell you, I do miss being babied :)

The most memorable moment was when my mom and I went to the Australian War Memorial. The Australian War Memorial, is a museum dedicated to those men and women who have served and are serving in the Australian armed forces, it was fascinating. When you enter the building you are greeted by a courtyard that holds a reflection pool. In the above section, there are two walls dedicated to the fallen with their names inscribed in it and with Poppies inserted by family and friends of those fallen. Alongside there is a tomb of an unknown soldier with, "They Gave Their Lives"engraved in the doorway. Inside the memorial/museum were open spaces of antiques, replicas and much more commemorating each war that the Australians had been part of.  It was very touching.

Finally, my mission since I got to Australia was to take a picture with my parents. Voilà!